Petron speeds up disposal of fuel debris

In its efforts to speed up the rehabilitation of Guimaras island, Petron Corp. has mobilized container trucks and equipment to complete the ongoing coastal clean-up operations in the oil-slick affected areas of Guimaras.

In a statement, Petron said its hired land craft transport (LCT) Carmen has already collected a total of 44 metric tons of bunker fuel recovered by clean-up workers in the coastlines of Nueva Valencia town. The collected debris was gathered from major coastal villages of Cabalagnan, Tando, La Paz and San Roque. Coastal clean-up workers have also collected a number of sacks from San Antonio, a coastal village of Sibunag, Guimaras.

The waste disposal of the solid recovered bunker fuel started last Sept. 6 with the arrival of LCT Carmen, which has a capacity to load up to 2,200 metric tons, said PO2 Arnel Alanao, one of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel assigned to supervise the overall waste disposal operation.

He said they were able to collect 2,000 sacks of solid wastes or the bunker fuel that mixed with beach sands in the first two days of their operation. Carmen is currently stationed in Barangay Cabalagnan wharf, about 20 kilometers from the Nueva Valencia municipal hall. Cabalagnan is one of the hardest-hit coastal barangays of the Solar I oil spill.

Petron technicians assigned in the hauling process which started last Sept. 6 said the collected wastes came mostly from Sitio Sumirib in Barangays La Paz, Tando and San Antonio, all in Nueva Valencia.

Carlos Tan, health and safety manager of Petron Corp., said liquid waste will be segregated from solid waste. "We are looking into areas between southern Luzon up to northern Mindanao to transfer the recovered materials," he said.

He added that they are also processing the environment compliance certificate (ECC) necessary for the proper waste disposal. "We are closely coordinating with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the area where these wastes can be disposed." He said hauling of the recovered bunker fuel that mixed with sands, stones and other solid matter is expected to take 10 to 15 days. "Liquid recovered wastes will be recycled," he said.

Currently, Petron has added more trucks to gather more solid materials in different areas where coastal clean-up is still in full swing. These are in the areas of Cabalagnan, Tando, La Paz and San Antonio in Sibunag.